Enewsletter

I
support Vegan Outreach because
of their single-minded focus
on saving as many animals as possible from the
horrors of modern agribusiness. Every day, Vegan
Outreach strives to be more efficient and effective;
every day, Vegan Outreach activists are out
there, creating real, lasting change.—Rory Freedman, #1 New
York Times best-selling coauthor of Skinny
Bitch

Notes
from Our Members

John
Oberg met Nikki & Nani at Gateway Community
College; Nani exclaimed, “I’m never
eating chicken again!” More
from John’s day at GCC.

I
have not stopped crying since
I saw all those pics of people who have stopped
eating meat because of you (left side here).
To me personally, there is no higher calling
than to help those who have no voice. I absolutely
adore what you are doing and am so inspired
by all you guys. —CE, 10/15/11

Richelle,
my host, joined me at the University
of Minnesota, Duluth, and we got loads of good
feedback:
One girl said
she didn’t eat mammals and was thinking about
making the switch. A Guide was just what she
needed to help her on her way.
An older guy said,
“I know all about that. I left agriculture
because of it.”
As a girl walked
away she said to her friends, “This is
gonna make me vegetarian.”
I talked with
a guy who said, “You know what is wonderful?
All I have to do is stop eating chicken to make
the change.”
A girl said, “I
read that, and I’m never eating meat again!”
She happily took a Guide.—Fred Tyler, 9/27/11

Red Rocks
Community College was an extremely
receptive campus! Some students told me how
receiving a booklet previously had impacted
them.—Jeni Haines, 10/3/11

Shannon
and Brittany (right) danced and
held signs while I leafleted at San Marino High
School. The yearbook committee came out equipped
with cameras and voice recorders, interviewing
and photographing the whole shebang. BOOM!—Nikki Benoit, 11/22/11

A
15-minute bike ride followed
by two bus trips, but outreach at Florida International
University was sooo worth it. Great discussions
with curious meat eaters. Favorite comment:
“I changed my mind.” (Holding booklet
to show me) “Got a salad for lunch today
instead!”—Yuri Mitzkewich, 10/14/11

Good
day of outreach with John at Glendale
Community College. I met a professor who is
in charge of the school newspaper and he wants
me to present to his class at the beginning
of next semester to see if any of the students
are interested in covering a story on factory
farming! I also ran into a guy I leafleted last
time at GCC and he told me that he has drastically
reduced the amount of meat he consumes, and thinks
about that leaflet often when he is making a
choice of what to eat.—Kirby Mauro, 11/22/11

Most
people who said “I like meat”
at Fayetteville State ended up taking a booklet
after I showed them the pictures of delicious
vegan food. One student told me the booklet
convinced her to go vegetarian right after Thanksgiving.
Her boyfriend was also interested in making
the change after I showed him the vegan food
pictures. Another student said she is going
to go vegan as soon as she graduates from FSU.
A faculty member who works for the student newspaper
came back and let me know he read the booklet
and it got him thinking about his diet. He gladly
took a Guide and thanked me for leafleting.
Heard many comments from those who told me how
the factory farm and slaughterhouse photos affected
them and I gave them Guides to help
translate this sadness / outrage into action.
Also had a few discussions about how to eat
vegan on a budget, where to find vegan food,
and how to stay healthy.—Brandon Becker, 11/21/11

More
eyes opened at Georgia Tech, thanks to Eric
Griffith.

My
favorite chat at Bellevue College
was with a young African-American woman. She
had leafleted with her church group in Seattle
and and was very relieved when we talked about
starting with a day a week, or a meal a day.
I gave her the CVA
booklet, and she was extremely excited to learn
that there are Christians who abstain from meat
on religious and ethical grounds. I also spoke
with an African-American guy who pulled me aside,
and told me he’d seen our leaflets before and
wanted to know where he could start to fight
against the mistreatment we were exposing. I
asked him if he ever ate veg or vegan meals,
and he said he did from time to time and that
he would do this more frequently.—Caleb Wheeldon, 10/7/11

Amy,
her 7-year-old son, Vincent, and
I set a new record at Anne Arundel Community
College. As soon as leafleting was done, Vincent
told Amy, “When I grow up, I want to be
a leafleter.” The leafleter is to today’s
youth what the rock star was to generations
past!—Jon Camp, 9/27/11

Huge
crew for First Friday, with six
new leafleters! We reached 4,259 people; super
high appreciation rate, with so many great conversations!
One girl said, “Your pamphlets really work,
I haven’t eaten meat since!” One woman
said, “It is so cruel what they do to animals.
I’m gonna go vegetarian!”—John Oberg, 10/7/11

New
leafleter Susan joined me at SUNY
Purchase. Dozens of vegetarians and vegans on
this small campus, which has a veg cafeteria!
A lot of students told me they became vegetarian
and one vegan since we leafleted here last semester.
One student said he had been vegan, but found
it to be too expensive; we discussed easy low-cost meals, and he said
he would try again. Another student said he received the leaflet
from me in the morning, and that he was going
vegetarian right away, and would work toward
going vegan! Another student said, “This
is terrible” as he looked at the Even
If You Like Meat. I said that I agreed,
and that this was the reason I was here. He
turned around and said, “God Bless.”
A professor stopped after Susan handed her a
leaflet, and said that she was just talking
about this in her class this morning, and would
use the photos from the booklet in her class.
Many other students thanked us for being there.
Got the emails of four students interested in
starting a veg group on campus. I will introduce
them to each other.—Karen James, 10/4/11

Three
new readers in Pasadena, with a fourth looking
on, thanks to Nikki Benoit.

Reached
900 students in less than two
hours at the complex for MLK High School. Great
feedback and interest; even the fire department
employees at the corner asked for a couple copies.
A woman asked, “May I help you?” I
replied, “Grab some booklets!” Turns
out it was the principal.—Casey Constable, 10/6/11

700
students at Ithaca College yesterday;
1,899 at Cornell today – a huge new record
at this Ivy. Walking around, I saw a train of
about 30 students, with around 25 of them reading
the booklet they had gotten from Mara! Also
talked extensively with our hosts, who have
committed to going vegan for a year.—Vic Sjodin, 10/5/11

Darina
and I quickly reached over 250
students at Whitney Young High School. On my
way to work afterward, a livestock trailer pulled
up next to me at a stoplight. It stopped so
that I came face to face with one of the steers.
As I stared into his eye, I couldn’t answer
his questioning gaze. At a loss, the words of
Boxer from Orwell’s Animal Farm echoed
in my head: “I will work harder.”
And so I shall.—Jon Bockman, 10/6/11